BJ Penn vs. Georges St Pierre – History in the Making
BetUS Sportsbook bettors who indulge in the mixed martial arts will get a chance to see two of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world on January 31 (Saturday), when Georges St. Pierre defends his UFC welterweight title against B.J. Penn, the current UFC lightweight champ, at UFC 94, taking place at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas.
BetUS UFC Betting Odds
UFC Welterweight title
January 31 — Las Vegas
GEORGES ST. PIERRE -175 vs. B.J. PENN +135
For betting purposes, let’s look at the contestants:
ST. PIERRE (17-2, 7 KO’s), the -175 favorite in the BetUS UFC betting odds, is one of the top fighters around, and one of the most popular. A native of Quebec, he fought in the UCC early on and made his debut with the UFC in January of 2004 with a decision over Karo Parisyan. Matt Hughes made him submit with an arm bar when he challenged him for the welterweight title at UFC 50. St. Pierre then beat Dave Strasser, Jason Miller, Frank Trigg and Sean Sherk to get himself back in the title picture, and a win over B.J. Penn at UFC 58 earned him another shot at Hughes. St. Pierre was more fortunate this time, taking out Hughes with strikes in November of 2006. That glory did not last very long. In his first title defense, GSP became the victim of a huge upset, as unheralded Matt Serra stopped him in three minutes and 25 seconds. Serra had an injury and couldn’t defend against Hughes, so St. Pierre, who had beaten Josh Koscheck and earned the designation as “number one contender,” was given another chance in a dubious “interim” fight, and beat Hughes in that rubber match to regain the title. The “undisputed” matter was settled this past April 19, when St. Pierre earned a second-round stoppage as he delivered too many knees for Serra to defend. In his last fight, he defended his title with a decision over Jon Fitch.
PENN (13-5, 5 KO’s), a native and resident of Hawaii, is the first American to have won the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship. In 2001 he began his UFC career with a one-round win over Joey Gilbert. Four fights into his career, he wound up fighting for the UFC lightweight title and lost to Jens Pulver. Three fights later he battled to a draw with Caol Uno for the same title that was left vacant after Pulver left the UFC. After the UFC eliminated the division entirely, Penn moved up to welterweight and won that title over Matt Hughes in January of 2004, at UFC 46. What happened after that was a battle with the UFC, which stripped Penn of his title after he went off to fight in K-1, and while he was over in Japan for that organization he lost an openweight match to Lyoto Machida. When Penn and the UFC resolved their differences, he returned to action at UFC 58 and lost a split decision to Georges St. Pierre with the spot at “number on contender” in the welters at stake. St. Pierre was to defend his title against Hughes, but got injured, and Penn was inserted in a fight for the “interim” crown. Penn was doing well until suffering a rib injury, and Hughes took control in the third round for the stoppage. After beating Pulver in a rematch, Penn was supposed to fight Sean Sherk for the lightweight title, which had been reinstated. Sherk was under a suspension from California, though, and since he was unavailable, Penn was matched with Joe Stevenson, and won the interim title on a rear naked choke in two rounds, then became “undisputed” when he stopped Sherk in three rounds last May 24. Penn and Randy Couture are the only UFC fighters ever to win titles in two different weight divisions.
This is a very significant fight in UFC history, since it brings together the champions of two of its five weight divisions. If Penn were to be walking around with two title belts simultaneously, that would be a monumental feat.
We have a little material to work with in that these guys have fought each other before. Penn lost a split decision to GSP three years ago, and it is said that if Penn was conditioned just a little better, he may have been the guy with his hand raised. He inflicted an awful lot of damage onto St. Pierre, but suffered because he was probably taken to the mat too many times. As it was, he didn’t get penalized, since he went on to fight for the title anyway.
St. Pierre is renowned for being a solid all-around fighter, and does a smart thing in MMA circles as he works with specialists in a lot of different areas, like wrestling, boxing and jiu-jitsu. Penn has quite a varied arsenal too; he does not lack for the ability to throw strikes, and his jiu-jitsu prowess is something St. Pierre has to worry about. This is a fight where Penn would actually like to stand there and trade blows, as not only does he hold a bit of an edge there, but there was also very tangible evidence of success on his part in the first encounter.
Matt Serra, who has fought both St. Pierre and Penn, gave this mini-analysis on the UFC website: “…he will get him to the cage, take his time and work him over a little bit, keep wearing him down, and over the course of that five-round fight that’s going to take its toll and lead to a decision win. He can out-point him that way, and basically beat BJ with takedowns and his wrestling ability.”
I think that breakdown is right on the money.
The consensus is that Penn, having a problem with endurance, is especially vulnerable the longer the fight goes, and that St. Pierre, being well aware of that, can devise a strategy to exploit it, lengthen the fight, and eventually take things to the ground enough to score the winning points.
I’ll go with Georges St. Pierre, the -175 favorite in the BetUS UFC mixed martial arts sports betting odds.
